In a volatile and unstable economic and geopolitical context, global natural gas consumption grew at a modest rate of 0.7% to 4181 bcm in 2025, translating to around 31 bcm of additional consumption, according to Cedigaz first estimates. This represents a notable slowdown in natural gas demand growth from 2024, when it surged by 2.7%. In the first half of the year, high spot LNG prices, weak industrial activity in price-sensitive sectors and unseasonably mild weather across Northeast Asia weighed on natural gas demand. However, natural gas demand accelerated during the second half of the year amid easing market conditions due to a pronounced rebound of LNG supply. Indeed, the year 2025 marked the biggest jump in LNG supply since 2019. Thanks to the strong expansion of flexible LNG, driven by the United States, natural gas markets are increasingly intertwined with broader global security challenges. Spot LNG price signals played a crucial role in the reorientation of LNG cargoes from Asia to Europe. The European gas supply is increasingly dependent on flexible LNG supply to replace piped volumes lost from Russia and replenish storage ahead of winter. The year 2025 emphasized the key role of natural gas in the electricity sector for balancing out renewable energy sources in both emerging and advanced economies.
First Estimates
CEDIGAZ First Estimates 2025
After enduring a prolonged and unprecedented series of shocks, the global natural gas demand resumed its steady growth trajectory
In 2024, global natural gas demand was estimated to have recorded a strong 2.9% growth, to stand at a new record of 4166 bcm, representing an annual incremental volume of 118 bcm. By way of comparison, growth over the pre-crisis period 2010-2019 stood at 2.4 %/year. This rebound was partly due to structural growth factors, which are expected to persist in the long term, including energy policies in favour of the expansion of gas, the booming Asian gas market, the growing role of gas as a dispatchable electricity source supporting intermittent renewables, increased use of LNG for transportation and more sudden and extreme climatic events which reinforced the crucial role of gas-fired power generation for peak load. On the supply side, global marketed natural gas production increased more moderately by 1.7% to 4159 bcm, driven predominantly by Russia, China and Norway. Despite tight LNG supplies, demand continued to grow robustly as major consumer markets tapped into their abundant stocks during periods of market tensions to ensure gas supply security and flexibility. In this context, European and Asian spot prices softened from the previous year but remained elevated. High price volatility reflected unforeseen events on both the supply and demand sides, including geopolitical tensions and extreme weather events.
Global demand for natural gas only marginally recovered from the shock caused by the cut in Russian natural gas supply a year earlier
After a 1.5% decline in 2022, marked by the gas supply crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, global natural gas consumption recovered slightly in 2023, with an estimated growth rate of 0.6%. The Russian gas crisis has led to tense market conditions as global LNG supply growth was too limited to compensate for the cut of Russian gas supplies to Europe. However, a number of economic, technological and weather factors eased the market and tempered the pressure on both demand and prices in 2023. Europe stands out with a very steep decline in demand to its lowest level since 1995. Driven by this steep reduction in natural gas demand and record-high gas storage levels, European gas prices fell considerably while remaining highly volatile. Asian spot LNG prices followed a similar trajectory. The global market experienced a gradual rebalancing throughout 2023 and natural gas storages closed the year at or near the top of the five-year range in all three key regions (North America, Europe and Northeast Asia).